Glorious Patchwork: More Than 25 Glorious Quilt Designs

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The glorious array of designs featured in Kaffe Fassett’s Quilts in Italy are all made using classic as well as new fabrics from the Kaffe Fassett Fabric Collection – subtle or bold, simple or complex, all of the designs come together with emblematic Kaffe Fassett flair. Choose from the delicious ice-cream colors and traditional piecing of Kaffe’s own Lacy Log Cabin, the bold and contrasting colors and forms of Scaffold, the almost dizzying complexity of Chiaroscuro, with its four-in-one style piecing, and many more eye-catching designs. A large part of Kaffe’s output is now an expanding range of fabric prints for the patchwork market along with the Indian stripes fabric and shot cotton fabric range distributed worldwide by Westminster Fibers, USA and Rowan, UK. Being more concerned with colour and design, Kaffe Fassett then worked extensively in many different textile arts, rather than the fashion world, later in his career.

Not only is Kaffe exuberant in his tactile use of color he is also extremely passionate and erudite when he talks about color in his creative world. His language was liberally sprinkled with terms that are usually used in other contexts. Adjectives like “delicious”, “voluptuous”, “fresh”, “juicy”, and “passionate” were liberally sprinkled in his vocabulary and rolled off his tongue easily. Where we might just say shades of red, to him it was “flaming red”, or “pungent blue”, or “mustard green”. His descriptive language about color was as inspiring as the products he designs. Making a Kaffe Fassett Quilt Made up of 25 rows of diamonds, the quilt pattern itself was not a difficult one. The challenge would be in developing pleasing color combinations. We started by laying out our intended fabric choices and Kaffe went around and suggested improvements. Mala Ramakrishnan, one of the organizers of the Dubai Quilt Show, starts her quilt design process Internationally renowned textile and fine artist Kaffe Fassett has been inspired by flowers his entire life, and he has been incorporating them into his artwork for nearly as long. In Bold Blooms, for the first time ever, he shares a behind-the-scenes look at his fascinating creative process, shedding light on how he creates the vibrant fabrics, quilts, needlepoints, ribbons, floral displays and paintings for which he is celebrated. He follows with a passionate ode to flowers in the form of eighteen quilts and seven needlepoints designed for bedgnning to advanced stitchers and divided into seven colour moods, ranging from neutrals and soft pastels to rich, dark tones.In 2013, Kaffe was awarded the Turner Medal. This is awarded by the Colour Group (Great Britain) to a distinguished artist or art historian, honouring Britain’s greatest colourists. We finished with a show and tell as Kaffe and Brandon went around to each quilt and evaluated the final results. Here once again, Kaffe’s colorful vocabulary came out as he described with sincerity and passion what attracted him about each quilt. This final discourse was as much a critique as it was another lesson in the language and the concepts of Kaffe’s color world. Final class review of quilts with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mabley If the quilting world has a crown prince, it has to be Kaffe Fassett. Known for his exuberant use of color, Kaffee has built a design empire that extends to fabric, knitting, needlepoint, mosaics and patchwork. Whether it’s a sweater, a needlepoint pillow or quilting fabric, his uniquely colorful style is instantly recognizable. He has published many books, including over 20 beautifully photographed quilt pattern volumes which make it easy to produce one of his trademark designs. But making a Kaffe Fassett quilt in a class taught by the master of “Glorious Color” brings you up close and personal to his creative genius.

Talking to many of the other classmates it was clear the majority were attending this quilt show just so that they could take this workshop with Kaffe. Attendees were here from many different European countries, as well as other areas of the Middle East. One of my table mates had only just started learning to quilt 10 days before this trip because she was such a huge fan of Kaffe’s work.

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The patchworks fall into three categories. First come Utility Quilts, employing large, simple patch shapes cut from charming prints. Traditional pieces follow, encompassing popular heritage quilt formats reborn here in fresh, modern colourways. Finally come the irresistible Showpiece Quilts, incorporating appliqué to create breathtaking showstoppers. Anyone who loves colour needs no introduction to Kaffe Fassett or to his rich and vibrant fabric collection. In this book he creates a terrific range of small projects for your home, for yourself or to give as gifts, from his specially chosen fabrics. The projects are ideal for anyone who wants a touch of the Kaffe magic with a fraction of the time and effort involved in creating the large-scale patchwork quilts for which he is perhaps best known. In his contemporary take on these amazing quilts – the 15 chosen span three centuries of quilt making and are featured in his introduction – he breathes fresh life into their eye-catching patterns and geometry, from hexagons to log-cabins and from complex medallions to simple strippies. He has invited five of his team of designers to make their own versions of five of them, creating yet further layers of interest. In 2013, the solo exhibition ‘Kaffe Fassett – A Life in Colour’ at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, featured over 100 works including knitwear and throws, patchwork quilts and a tactile installation for visitors to touch so that they could get a better understanding of the structure behind his work. In 2014, ‘Kaffe Fassett: 50 Years in Colour’ Exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery was extremely popular, and later toured to Norway in 2015.

Whether in the form of a cushion or a table runner, a mini-quilt or a tablecloth, a kimono or a tea cosy, or a stole or shawl, Kaffe’s 20 small pieced designs in this book – ranging from the most simply stitched to the m ore intricately pieced – mix bold flower patterns with strong geometrics in a mouth-watering range of colours and in palettes that range from the sizzingly hot to the cool and delicate. A list of the best quilting classes and retreats: My Wish List of Unique Quilting Classes, Quilting Workshops, Quilting Retreats and Quilting Holidays to Inspire Your Next Creative Adventure In the midst of all these activities his needlework designing is a constant. He has been the most important and consistent contributor to our catalogues for 40 years, without a break. Kaffe is recognised as one of the world’s leading textile designers. Learning paper piecing the Judy Niemeyer way: Learn Paper Piecing With Judy Niemeyer Classes as A Quiltworx Retreat in Kalispell, MontanaKaffe started his artistic career as a painter, first in the US and then in the UK where he moved in 1964. He eventually discovered that he had a greater passion for textile design which is where his successful career ultimately took him. Listening to his talk it was clear that his eye and his mind were wired to see color and pattern in ways that most of us do not. He showed us how he finds inspiration in the smallest things, like the color variations of lichen covered stones or the shade gradations in a geranium leaf. Fast forward many years later when my interests moved from knitting to quilting. During those years, Kaffe’s design world also expanded to encompass needlepoint patterns, mosaics, fabric designs and quilt patterns. I found his first quilt design book, Glorious Patchwork, to be equally innovative and inspiring. And since I also love bright colors, I am always instinctively drawn to his fabric collections. Kaffe Fassett autographs his books at the Dubai Quilt Show Kaffe Fassett was born in San Francisco in 1937. Kaffe started as a fine artist, winning a scholarship to study at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts School when he was nineteen. He left after three months to paint in London, and he still continues to exhibit his paintings. After settling in England in 1964, his passion for colour led him to knitting and designing knitwear for Missoni and Bill Gibb amongst others, and his hand-knitted garments are now in museum collections all over the world. He later took up needlepoint and patchwork, creating both his own works and designs for others to make. The ‘Ancestral Quilts’ Exhibition at the Quilt Museum in York in Summer 2015 showcased Kaffe’s new stunning quilt designs inspired by the Quilters Guild’s historic collection of antique quilts from 1780 to 1949. This successful exhibition promoted the original antique pieces as well as the inspiring new pieces by Kaffe, as well as a section to inspire creativity and interactivity for visitors. This Exhibition is travelling to 3 venues in USA from Autumn 2015 called ‘Blanket Statements’. Kaffe turned his hand to printed fabric design when working with Liza Prior Lucy in USA on new patchwork designs, publishing his book Glorious Patchwork in 1997. Since then, Kaffe has produced many hardcover books on patchwork, as well as working on over fifteen Patchwork & Quilting books annually for Rowan Yarn/Westminster Fibers.

In 2015 Kaffe became a Patron of the Shetland Peerie Makkers, set up with Brough Lodge Trust, to teach hand-knitting to Shetland youngsters, to nurture Shetland’s wonderful culture of hand-knitting for future generations. At the end, we all rolled up our designs inside the felt design wall without ruining the layout. Now all that was left was to sew it all together and then quilt it. This would forever be a tangible reminder of the day we spent with the design genius for whom “color was like breathing”. Kaffe Fassett’s fabrics, with their trademark range of colourways in each pattern, are the perfect choice for his 20 different patchwork cushions in this book. He has created a cornucopia of eye-catching designs, with something for every style and for every level of patchwork skill, using both his sumptuous florals and his neat geometric prints to great effect.saw a variety of exciting commissions, projects and publications. Exhibiting quilts at the Textile Museum of Canada, involvement at the Yokohama Patchwork Festival in Japan and Kaffe’s contribution to two group shows, ‘The Artist and Radio 4’ at the Bankside Gallery and a painting exhibition at the Catto Gallery, London saw the year end with a prestigious invitation to design and decorate the Victoria and Albert Museum Christmas tree in collaboration with Kaffe’s latest book publication ‘Kaffe Fassett’s V&A Quilt’s’. You could say I’ve known Kaffe for about 30 years – though he does not know me. In the mid 1980’s when I was deep into knitting, he came out with his landmark knitting design book. He had made his mark as a designer in the knitting and fashion world when his very first ever knitting project was featured in the Vogue Knitting magazine. My collection of Kaffe Fassett books and fabrics